Slices
Prepare
Another prophet, facing a similarly bleak outlook, was asked, ‘Can these bones live?’ (Ezekiel 37:3). He replied, ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’ Ezekiel was not just hedging his bets: the Lord is sovereign, and he does indeed know what is possible.
Bible passage
Rend your heart
12 ‘Even now,’ declares the Lord,
‘return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.’
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing –
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘‘Where is their God?”’
The Lord’s answer
18 Then the Lord was jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.
19 The Lord replied to them:
‘I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.
20 ‘I will drive the northern horde far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
its smell will rise.’
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig-tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing-floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 ‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten –
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm –
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.
Explore
Just when life seems unrelentingly awful, everything can change. ‘Even now’ change is possible (v 12). The change in this passage is remarkable. It begins as a possibility – ‘Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing’ (v 14). At this point, the change is within the people of God. They are urged to move from routine piety to genuine repentance (v 13), to unite across all classes of society in turning to the Lord (vs 15–17).
Then the change ceases to be a possibility and becomes a divine declaration (vs 18–20). Finally, it is a fact – ‘he has done great things!’ (v 20). Worship is restored, ecosystems are renewed, the rains again water the land and what was ‘dried up’ (see 1:10,12) is once more flowing with life. Finally, there is a promise for the future (vs 25–27) – ‘never again will my people be shamed’ (v 27).
When we look at the state of the world, our own nation, the church or even our families, it is easy to assume that what we see now will always prevail. But that is not the case. With God, there is always hope.
Respond
Bring before God the situations that disturb you and seem intractable. Use this prayer from Mark 9:24: ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Kings 19,20; 2 Corinthians 8
Pray for Scripture Union
We have been looking for a new Director of Mission Resources, a key role heading up the production of resources to equip churches for their ministry to the 95. Pray that the person appointed will settle into the role and work well with the Mission Resources team.
